1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical, automatic stirrer. More specifically, the present invention relates to those stirrers that can be mounted on top of pots of various sizes and can be used to stir the contents of the pot while the contents are cooking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The primary difficulty encountered in the food service industry is the need to keep large pots of food hot during the course of a sitting of a meal. At present, should a restaurant wish to keep a food item palatable for long periods of time, the chef is required to periodically stir the contents of the pot to prevent burning of those contents. Not only is this time consuming for the chef who may be busy with any number of alternate tasks, but the food has a tendency to settle within the pot, discolor, and lose some of its taste.
The present invention provides a solution to this problem by continuously stirring the contents of a pot while the contents are cooking. Since the stirring is provided by an automatic motor, the chef need not concern himself with the mundane task of stirring by hand every few minutes.
In addition to the aforementioned feature, the present invention offers adaptability. The food stirrer can be adapted to fit over the opening of a wide variety of pot sizes. In a large kitchen where pot sizes may vary considerably depending upon the particular use, this feature can be very useful.
The present invention also offers a basket arrangement thereattached. This basket can hold any number of items such as soup bones, meat, vegetables, and spices that are needed to flavor the particular food item. The basket suspends these materials within the pot, yet it keeps them from mixing with the item to be served. In addition, it prevents large items such as bones from interfering with the stirring action of the stirring paddle.
There have been a number of developments of stirrers in the past, however, none address this specific problem. Moreover, none address the problem of stirring the contents of a container in the manner of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,085,858 issued to W. H. Fulton on Feb. 3, 1914 discloses a stirrer that can be adapted to any number of pot sizes. Fulton accomplishes this by providing clamping means to the stirrer. However, the Fulton device is limited in application as it is designed for high speed stirring.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,534 issued to M. R. Pegues on Jan. 25, 1955 is perhaps the closest reference to the present invention. Pegues discloses a stirring apparatus that is designed to stir food while cooking. However, Pegues is limited to one pot size only. The same stirring device cannot be adapted to a variety of pot sizes. The only manner in which the device could be adapted to different pot sizes would be to have a separate device for each pot size. Clearly this provides a substantial inconvenience.